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Chiara Vigo: Sea Silk Weaver of Sardinia-The Face of God - ignatiuspress | October 25, 2010 This clip describes sea silk, the fiber used to weave the cloth that is the Holy Veil of Manoppello. Chiara …More
Chiara Vigo: Sea Silk Weaver of Sardinia-The Face of God -

ignatiuspress | October 25, 2010 This clip describes sea silk, the fiber used to weave the cloth that is the Holy Veil of Manoppello. Chiara Vigo, of Sardinia, the last remaining weaver of sea silk in the world, talks about its properties. Vigo traveled to Manoppello in 2004 and confirmed that the Holy Veil is made of this rarest of materials. Byssus has not been commercially available for more than 2,000 year.

Clip from "The Holy Face," 2006, produced by Mirar for Program 1, TVP S.A. (Poland), licensed 2010 by Ignatius Press.
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Chiara Vigo: Sea Silk Weaver of Sardinia-The Face of God
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Chiara Vigo of Sardinia: Sea silk, the fiber used to weave the cloth that is the Holy Veil of Manoppello.
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?El 25 de octubre? !FELIZ CUMPLEANYOS!--belatedly 👏
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Interview with Chiara Vigo Expert Weaver of Marine Byssus
Above is a copy of a page from the english translation of Paul Badde's historic first article from the Inside the Vatican magazine which was first published in the Die Welt newspaper in Germany. It shows a photograph of Chiara Vigo and also a photograph of her holding a small clump of marine byssus. Click on the article to magnify it so it …More
Interview with Chiara Vigo Expert Weaver of Marine Byssus

Above is a copy of a page from the english translation of Paul Badde's historic first article from the Inside the Vatican magazine which was first published in the Die Welt newspaper in Germany. It shows a photograph of Chiara Vigo and also a photograph of her holding a small clump of marine byssus. Click on the article to magnify it so it can be read. To see the entire article of Badde, go to www.voltosanto.de and click on the word zeitschriften, then scroll down and click on the photo of the magazine Inside the Vatican.

What follows is a translation of an interview with Chiara Vigo regarding the fabric of the Holy Face of Manoppello which was originally broadcast on the Italian RAI television network. The original Italian can be found on the official website of the Shrine of the Holy Face of Manoppello.

Television interviewer: From your perspective as an expert, we ask you, is it possible that the relic is made of marine byssus?

Chiara Vigo: On the basis of the result of my studies, I would say yes. The cloth presents the characteristics typical of marine byssus.

Television interviewer: Can you give us some examples?

Chiara Vigo: Principally the transparency. Marine byssus is the only fiber that allows light to pass through: it is a bronze color in the dark and a golden color if illuminated. This peculiarity is compatible with the features of the Holy Face, that disappear when light shines against it.

Television interviewer: Surely the fact that the Face disappears when light shines against it is one of the most disquieting aspects of the relic. If we were dealing with a painting the image shouldn't be visible from both sides. This aspect has been looked into by a professor from Bari, right?

Chiara Vigo: Yes, that would be Professor Donato Vittore, who has found that on the cloth there are no traces of color. Thus we can exclude the theory that the Face had been drawn by a human hand. In that sense we can say that if one would paint on marine byssus, which is a smooth and impermeable fiber, the color would tend to run and form crusts, which he has not found to be on the cloth. Marine byssus could be dyed only by a carbon bath, but this can be excluded considering the era to which it dates and that we find ourselves in Mesopotamia.

Television interviewer: What are the alternative hypotheses?

Chiara Vigo: The Face could have been obtained with a sort of decolorization. It has been discovered that lemon has a lightening effect on fabric of marine byssus. This theory becomes even more interesting if one thinks that in ancient times an emulsion of oil and lemon was used to anoint the dead.

Television interviewer: Let's turn to the theory that we find ourselves in front of the veil offered by Veronica for the burial of Jesus.

Chiara Vigo: There is some possibility. Also because the relic presents some irregularities along the border that allow us to suppose that it was transferred from one frame to another, and we know that in the Vatican there is preserved a frame similar to the one of the Holy Face. If comparing them should show that they are compatible, than there would no longer be any room for doubt.

Television interviewer: Can we say that the question is more than ever open?

Chiara Vigo: Yes, there is need for greater seriousness in the studies. It is necessary to analyze all the possible fabrics, making use of the collaboration of the Universities of Urbino and Camerino. In fact, only after an accurate examination of the fibers will the contribution of persons like me, experts in the field, be useful.

Television interviewer: Do I detect a subtle vein of criticism in your words, or am I wrong?

Chiara Vigo: Let's say yes, as a Catholic I understand the mystical leap of faith, but the only way to verify a sound theory is to undertake a scientific study which may provide objective and concrete proofs.

Television interviewer: In point of fact what do you propose?

Chiara Vigo: That the church and local officials work together to form a committee that would concentrate solely on resolving the question of the Holy Face. I think that often we can get lost in the mixing of many matters, causing the fact to be forgotten that we are dealing with the patrimony of everyone, and first of all, that of the people of Abruzzo.
holyfaceofmanoppello.blogspot.com/…/interview-with-…
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Sea silk is an extremely fine, rare and valuable fabric produced from the long silky filaments or byssus secreted by a gland in the foot of several bivalve molluscs (particularly Pinna nobilis L.) by which they attach themselves to the sea bed.[1]
Sea silk was produced in the Mediterranean region from the large bivalve mollusc, Pinna nobilis until early in the 20th century. The shell, which is …More
Sea silk is an extremely fine, rare and valuable fabric produced from the long silky filaments or byssus secreted by a gland in the foot of several bivalve molluscs (particularly Pinna nobilis L.) by which they attach themselves to the sea bed.[1]
Sea silk was produced in the Mediterranean region from the large bivalve mollusc, Pinna nobilis until early in the 20th century. The shell, which is sometimes almost a metre long, adheres itself to rocks with a tuft of very strong thin fibres, pointed end down, in the intertidal zone. These byssus or filaments (which can be up to 6 cm long) are then spun and, when treated with lemon juice, turn a golden colour which never fades.
The cloth produced from these filaments can be woven even finer than silk and is extremely light and warm; however, it attracts clothes moths, the larvae of which will eat it. It was said that a pair of women's gloves could fit into half a walnut shell and a pair of stockings in a snuffbox.[2] The mollusc is also sought for its flesh and occasionally has pearls of fair quality
History
Sea silk is identified with byssus cloth, which was a rare white fabric in the ancient Mediterranean, but scholars disagree over this connection.
[edit] Egypt
The Greek text of the (196 BCE) Rosetta Stone records that Ptolemy V reduced taxes on priests, including one paid in byssus cloth, usually translated as "fine linen cloth".[3] In Ancient Egyptian burial customs, byssus cloth was used to wrap mummies.
[edit] Greece
The sophist author Alciphron first records "sea wool" in his (ca. 2nd century CE) "Galenus to Cryton" letter.[4]
The early Christian Tertullian (ca. 160-220 CE) mentions it justifying his wearing a pallium instead of a toga.
Nor was it enough to comb and to sow the materials for a tunic. It was necessary also to fish for one's dress; for fleeces are obtained from the sea where shells of extraordinary size are furnished with tufts of mossy hair.[5]
Sea silk is one interpretation of the golden fleece sought by Jason and the Argonauts[6] but scholars refute this hypothesis.[7] [8]
[edit] Roman Empire
Several sources mention lana pinna "pinna wool". Emperor Diocletian's (301 CE) Edict on Maximum Prices lists it as a valuable textile.[9]
The Byzantine historian Procopius's (ca. 550 CE) Persian War, "stated that the five hereditary satraps (governors) of Armenia who received their insignia from the Roman Emperor were given chlamys (or cloaks) made from lana pinna. Apparently only the ruling classes were allowed to wear these chlamys."[10]
[edit] Arabia
The Arabic name for "sea silk" is ṣūf al-baḥr "sea wool". The 9th-century Persian geographer Estakhri notes that a sea-wool robe cost more than 1000 gold pieces and records its mythic source.
At a certain period of the year an animal is seen running out of the sea and rubbing itself against certain stones of the littoral, whereupon it deposes a kind of wool of silken hue and golden color. This wool is very rare and highly esteemed, and nothing of it is allowed to waste.[11]
Two 13th-century authors, Ibn al-Baitar and Zakariya al-Qazwini, repeat this "sea wool" story.
[edit] China
Beginning in the Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 CE), Chinese histories document importing sea silk from the Roman Empire. Chinese language names include "cloth from the west of the sea" and "mermaid silk".
The (3rd century CE) Weilüe "Brief Account of the Wei", which was an unofficial history of the Cao Wei empire (220-265 CE), records haixi 海西 "West of the Sea" cloth made from shuiyang 水羊 "water sheep".[12]
They have fine brocaded cloth that is said to be made from the down of 'water-sheep'. It is called Haixi ('Egyptian') cloth. This country produces the six domestic animals [traditionally: horses, cattle, sheep, chickens, dogs and pigs], which are all said to come from the water. It is said that they not only use sheep's wool, but also bark from trees, or the silk from wild silkworms, to make brocade, mats, pile rugs, woven cloth and curtains, all of them of good quality, and with brighter colours than those made in the countries of Haidong (“East of the Sea”). [13]
The (ca. 5th century CE) Hou Hanshu "Book of the Eastern Han" expresses doubt about "water sheep" in the "Products of Daqin (the Roman Empire)" section. "They also have a fine cloth which some people say is made from the down of 'water sheep,' but which is made, in fact, from the cocoons of wild silkworms".[14] The historian Fan Ye (398-445 CE), author of the Hou Hanshu, notes this section's information comes from the report that General Ban Yong 班勇 (son of General Ban Chao 班超, 32-102 CE) presented to the Emperor in 125. Both Bans administered the Western Regions on the Silk Road.
The (945 CE) Tang shu "Book of Tang" mentioned Haixi cloth from Folin 佛菻 "Syria", which Emil Bretschneider first identified as sea silk from Greece. "There is also a stuff woven from the hair of sea-sheep, and called hai si pu (stuff from the western sea)". He notes, "This is, perhaps, the Byssus, a clothstuff woven up to the present time by the Mediterranean coast, especially in Southern Italy, from the thread-like excrescences of several sea-shells, (especially Pinna squamosa)."[15]
The (early 6th century CE) Shuyiji 遹異記 "Records of Strange Things" mentions silk woven by Jiaoren 蛟人 jiao-dragon people", which Edward H. Schafer identifies as sea silk.
In the midst of the South Sea are the houses of the kău people who dwell in the water like fish, but have not given up weaving at the loom. Their eyes have the power to weep, but what they bring forth is pearls.[16]
This aquatic type of raw silk was called jiaoxiao 蛟綃 "mermaid silk" or jiaonujuan 蛟女絹" mermaid women's silk".
[edit] Modern
The image of Jesus at Manoppello in Italy, believed by some to be the original Veil of Veronica, is painted on a piece of byssus cloth. The Italian names for "sea silk" are bisso "byssus", lana pesce "fish wool" or lana penna "pinna wool".
Unfortunately, in recent years, Pinna nobilis has become threatened with extinction, partly due to overfishing and, partly, due to the decline in seagrass fields, and pollution. As it has declined so dramatically, the once small but vibrant sea silk industry has almost disappeared, and the art is now preserved only by a few women on the island of Sant'Antioco in Sardinia.[17]
The earliest usage of the English name sea silk remains uncertain, but the Oxford English Dictionary defines sea-silkworm as "a bivalve mollusc of the genus Pinna."[18]
[edit] Footnotes
^ Webster's Third New International Dictionary (Unabridged) 1976. G. & C. Merriam Co., p. 307.
^ Oxford English Dictionary (1971), under Byssus.
^ Translation of the Greek section of the Rosetta Stone.
^ Book I, Alciphron, Literally and Completely Translated
^ Tr. Laufer 1915:109.
^ Verrill, A. Hyatt (1950), Shell Collector’s Handbook, New York: Putnam, p. 77
^ Barber, Elizabeth J. W. (1991), Prehistoric textiles: the development of cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages with special reference to the Aegean, Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press
^ McKinley, Daniel (1999), “Pinna And Her Silken Beard: A Foray Into Historical Misappropriations,” Ars Textrina 29, pp. 9-29
^ Maeder 2002, p. 10.
^ Turner and Rosewater 1958, p. 294.
^ Tr. Laufer 1915:111.
^ In modern Standard Mandarin usage, Haixi denotes "western; foreign" names such as Haixi Jurchens and Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.
^ Tr. Hill 2004
^ Tr. Hill 2003.
^ Tr. Bretschneider 1871, p. 24
^ Tr. Schafer 1967:220-1.
^ Maeder, Hänggi, and Wunderlin 2004, pp. 68-71.
^ OED2, under Sea, n. 23 (d).
[edit] References
Bretschneider, Emil. 1871. On the Knowledge Possessed by the Ancient Chinese of the Arabs and Arabian Colonies and Other Western Countries. Trubner.
Hill, John E. (2009) Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd Centuries CE. John E. Hill. BookSurge, Charleston, South Carolina. ISBN 978-1-4392-2134-1. See Section 12 plus "Appendix B - Sea Silk".
Hill, John E. 2004. The Peoples of the West. A draft annotated translation of the 3rd century Weilüe – see Section 12 of the text and Appendix D.
Laufer, Berthold. 1915. "The Story of the Pinna and the Syrian Lamb", The Journal of American Folk-lore 28.108:103-128.
McKinley, Daniel L. 1988. "Pinna and Her Silken Beard: A Foray Into Historical Misappropriations". Ars Textrina: A Journal of Textiles and Costumes, Vol. Twenty-nine, June, 1998, Winnipeg, Canada. Pp. 9-223.
Maeder, Felicitas 2002. "The project Sea-silk – Rediscovering an Ancient Textile Material." Archaeological Textiles Newsletter, Number 35, Autumn 2002, pp. 8-11.
Maeder, Felicitas, Hänggi, Ambros and Wunderlin, Dominik, Eds. 2004. Bisso marino : Fili d’oro dal fondo del mare – Muschelseide : Goldene Fäden vom Meeresgrund. Naturhistoriches Museum and Museum der Kulturen, Basel, Switzerland. (In Italian and German).
Schafer, Edward H. 1967. The Vermillion Bird: T'ang Images of the South. University of California Press.
Turner, Ruth D. and Rosewater, Joseph 1958. "The Family Pinnidae in the Western Atlantic" Johnsonia, Vol. 3 No. 38, June 28, 1958, pp. 285-326.
[edit] External links
General:
Byssus threads from mussel, Virtue School Project
Byssus, Aquatext
History of Sea Byssus cloth, Designboom
How to Spin a Byssus Thread, Designboom
Definitions:

Look up byssus in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Byssus, Webster's
byssus, American Heritage Dictionary
byssus, WorldReference
Scientific:
Sticky When Wet, Science News
Wet Wonder Glue, Waite Research Lab
The PROJECT SEA-SILK (Bisso marino), Natural History Museum of Basel
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_silk
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Irapuato
the legendary craft of byssus cloth waving / chiara vigo - august 2002 - the swedish naturalist carl linnaeus, also known as carl von linné or carolus linnaeus (1707-1778) first described the species in 1758. it is an endemic species of the mediterranean, belonging to the family of pinnidae. this large, brown fan-shaped bivalve shellfish, one of the largest in the world, can reach a breadth of 1,2…More
the legendary craft of byssus cloth waving / chiara vigo - august 2002 - the swedish naturalist carl linnaeus, also known as carl von linné or carolus linnaeus (1707-1778) first described the species in 1758. it is an endemic species of the mediterranean, belonging to the family of pinnidae. this large, brown fan-shaped bivalve shellfish, one of the largest in the world, can reach a breadth of 1,2 metres. its habitat is in the coastal region, on the shoals that are either sandy or overgrown by sea-flowering plants. it is found mainly in south italy /sardinia, but also in france /around the mediterranean islands (corsica ...), on the coasts of yugoslavia, in north-africa, etc. --- byssus threads the pen shell has a byssus gland that secretes byssus, an organic maner that hardens in contact with water and forms threads that help fasten the valves to the base. the fan mussel lives half buried in the sediment where it finds nourishment and shelter. like many other organisms it remains anached to the same substratum in the same place, almost stationary, to the end of its life. it can, however, use its foot to move slowly and in limited fashion. this means that the fan mussel can be found at different depths depending on age. during the larva stadium it spends its life swimming freely. the young individuals being found near the surface, while the older individuals live at a depth of approximately 40 metres. --- the decline in populations threatened with extinction for some forty years - it is partly due to the decline in the posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows. trawling, anchoring of yachts, various pollutants, sea resort and other developments, as well as unauthorized fishing by certain divers, have all contributed to accelerating the decline of this species. the decline in the seagrass has serious implications for the fan mussel whose highly specific ecology and metabolism renders its reproduction difficult. --- reproduction the eggs mature and the larvae develop in the open seas. then, made heavy by a thin calcitic shell following its planktonic phase, the larva falls to the bottom where it attaches itself. at this stage it measures approximately 2 cm and has a transparent and fragile shell, which leaves the animal prey to numerous predators, such as octopus, sea bream, etc. the mortality rate at this stage is therefore high. www.designboom.com/…/byssus_chiara.h…